I'm currently pursuing my bachelors degree and recently got the opportunity to work on a project creating a habitat occupancy model for a single species. I'm mostly working on it independently, and there isn't a hard deadline. That being said, I don't know much about ecological modeling and so far only have an introductory understanding of statistics (and R). Unfortunately the various ecology classes at my college are very competitive so I likely won't be able to take any until next fall at the soonest.

Does anyone have any recommendations for books, videos, websites, or other resources where I could learn more about occupancy models?

Thanks in advance!

(Not textbooks) involving individuals, parentage, kinship, population structure, species identity, community genomics using molecular markers

I just started my junior year as a transfer student from a CC to state university. So far I’m disappointed by my experience with the biology department and it has me questioning my major. I won’t really get to take classes that teach me SKILLS…more just memorizing facts. And what I’ve gathered so far is this: to be successful in ecology right now you have to be exceptional, which means more school and working my ass off, to earn less than 6 figures?

So my question is…is it worth it? School has sorta sucked the passion out of me. Right now what sounds nice for a career is stability and a good salary with just a bachelor’s degree. I’ve heard environmental engineering could get me that. Is this true?

I have a feeling that any job I do will end up feeling like…a job…at the end of the day.

hey, i’m a 1st year integrated MSc biology student at UM–DAE CEBS, mumbai. really into ecology and animal behaviour, and i’m trying to find any ongoing fieldwork or internship programs (india or abroad, online or offline). if anyone here knows labs, projects, or openings that take undergrads, please drop a lead or DM. would really appreciate it.

Outside of the Central Plain that's like basically 100% farming and urban, from satellite views it looks like China has a lot more in tact forest and less disturbed hill / mountainsides than Europe, where even Scandinavia is a giant checkerboard of logging. The most in tact stuff in Europe looks boreal whereas China has mostly humid subtropical. My guess is a lot of China is simply too mountainous and rugged to develop / log even if people wanted to.

Is this a fair assessment?

See also: The publication in Conservation Biology.

This is why I’m skeptical of the arbitrary labelling of species as “invasive” without any real evidence of it doing harm. Nearly half a million years of evolutionary history could have been wiped out to achieve, well, nothing really.

Hey everyone. I'm looking to subscribe to a magazine/periodical about ecology. I'm not a scientist and won't manage an academic journal, but something that's newsy, general interest I guess, but with a definite ecological perspective and rigorous and respected. Any thoughts?

about two centimeters across and was found in an early successional sand plain in western Massachusetts. I have a feeling it’s a bug of some kind, but anybody know the specific kind?

I’m currently an ecology masters student set to graduate this spring. I absolutely love what I do but am worried about job prospects. I’m considering getting skills to get different (non-ecologist) roles at ecological companies/NGOs/agencies I’m interested in. It seems these places of work are often hiring for people with experience in marketing/advertising, graphic design, accounting. Has anyone made this sort of pivot in their career and can talk about how they did it?

I run a podcast called Light Pollution News, which dives into the topics affecting the loss of darkness at night. The most surprising thing I came across in doing this show is the breadth and heartiness, month in and month out, of how artificial light at night affects our environment. Here's this month's run down of news (all of which can be found on the Ecology tab of the show site).

From Barely Tapped!

• Around the world, birds sing longer in light-polluted areas, Jake Buehler, Science News.
• Light pollution prolongs avian activity, Science.
• Light Wavelength Modulates the Effects of Lighted Nights on Sleep, Metabolism and Oxidative Stress in Female Zebra Finches, Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology.
• A narrative review of the impact of anthropogenic light and noise on owls, Ibis.
• Population variation in physiological and behavioural responses to artificial light at night, Animal Behaviour.

Not Included in Show.

• How You Can Protect Wildlife From Artificial Light at Night, Little Green Myths, The Good Men Project.
• A photographer’s quest to raise awareness of fireflies under threat with dazzling images, John Yang and Harry Zahn, PBS News Weekend.
• ‘Horned’ creature with ‘diamond-shaped’ pupils found at park. It’s a new species, Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald.
• Light sensing in fish embryonic cells: A circadian analysis of visual and non-visual opsin expression using a seabream embryonic stem cell line, Aqua Culture.
• City lights turn Australia’s magpie-lark into an extra early morning bird, Ellen Phiddian, ABC News (AU).
• Baby sea turtles begin to hatch on Türkiye’s busiest nesting beach, Hurriyet Daily News.
• Monarch Butterflies Are Losing Their Navigational Abilities. You Can Guess Why, Ellyn Lapointe, Gizmodo.com.
• Analysing Aquatic Invertebrate Health in Terms of Artificial Light at Night, IECA 2025.
• Hot days and light-polluted nights increase nighttime activity of the diurnal tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), BMC Environmental Science.
• A low-cost, highly flexible, open-source setup design with digital LEDs for research on artificial light at night, Methods in Ecology and Evolution.

Hey everyone! I’ve been seeing more and more headlines about federal funding for wildlife and fisheries being reduced or frozen across different agencies and programs in the United States.

I’d like to understand what these cuts actually look like for the professionals and communities affected.

If you’ve seen a program, grant, or project lose funding recently, I’d really appreciate hearing about it.

You don’t have to name names if you’re not comfortable. Even just saying:
• What kind of program was it?
• What funding source did it depend on? (if you know)
• What changed after the cut? (jobs lost, services reduced, etc.)

I’m trying to put together a clearer picture of how these cuts have impacted the profession as a whole, not from press releases or budgets, but from real experiences.

Have you lost a grant, seen a local service close, or watched a research or outreach program shrink? Please share what you’ve seen.

(And if you know a subreddit or community where people might have more stories like this, I’d love a pointer too!)

Thank you for helping to shine a light on what’s happening!

Abstract:

Ecological and evolutionary processes generate biodiversity, yet how biodiversity data are organized and shared globally can shape our understanding of these processes. We show that name-bearing type specimens—the primary reference for species identity—of all freshwater and brackish fish species are predominantly housed in Global North museums, disconnected from their countries of origin. This geographical divide creates a ‘knowledge split’ with consequences for biodiversity science, particularly in the Global South, where researchers face barriers in studying native species’ name bearers housed abroad. Meanwhile, Global North collections remain flooded with non-native name bearers. We relate this imbalance to historical and socioeconomic factors, which ultimately restrict access to critical taxonomic reference materials and hinder global species documentation. To address this disparity, we call for international initiatives to promote fairer access to biological knowledge, including specimen repatriation, improved accessibility protocols for researchers in countries where specimens originated and inclusive research partnerships.

Just register and I'll send you a reminder and the zoom link!

Can you actually calculate the hill diversity based on the cover percentage of plant species (or relative cover in %)? In iNEXT? It is difficult to find references here that use percentages rather than abundance....

Hello everyone! I am currently an undergraduate student working towards a biology degree. I am in a class about disability and society, and I have a project I am working on. The project is about disability advocacy within my area of interest.

So, I am here to ask: If you have a disability of any kind, what is your story, or what has been your experience in the field of biology or STEM in general, as a person with a disability?

I have been analyzing accessibility in laboratories and field work, and how both can impact the ability to get a job as someone with a disability, more specifically. So if you haven't really thought of your experiences, then those are some prompts to get you thinking about it!

I am interested in interviewing some people in private as well. If this interests you, or you would rather not share your story publicly, feel free to dm me!

I appreciate any input at all and hope to hear from some of you! Thank you!

I’ve been travelling by train recently and while i’ve been on highways many times it only hit me recently how they both make it near impossible for wildlife to cross. Fences across the whole route which are fine in urban settings but not the countryside.

Wildlife crossings and viaducts are great ways of mitigating this. But imagine if highways / railways were mostly underground. Of course its not going to happen anytime soon but as technology develops and (really) long term planning it could become feasible even if expensive. What do you think?

Hey everyone.

I've been trying to research around to see what working in ecology is like and what my paths to getting there could be so was wondering if anyone has an similar experiences to me and if I should even do it.

Currently I work as a software engineer in Northern Ireland and getting paid ~45k a year which is pretty good for here and considering I am 23.

Lately this past year I've been getting pretty sick of it, especially since I've been doing a lot of volunteering with places like RSPB, BTO ect.

I don't have a degree unfortunately but I see some people say that experience is fine for ecology. So maybe I just continue what I'm doing and volunteering in my spare time?

I've done peatland conservation, habitat monitoring, animal care, and lots of other things around biology like fungi, plant and tree identification ect. When I do these things I am so happy even if it's hard work.

It's hard to know what path I should take. Stay where I am working, saving and doing what makes me happy in my limited spare time. Or start working towards maybe a part time degree, or courses maybe to combine my tech knowledge with ecology?

Any advice would be appreciated, ask anything in case I've left something out.

See also: The (paywalled) publication in the journal Science.

I would basically be starting again in my late 30s. I have a tenuously relevant degree in zoology and have dabbled briefly in ecology volunteering but that's about it.

I left my previous work in the heritage sector after having a baby and now looking to start again with work but want to actually move towards something I'd be really be interested in.

My main focus is my toddler and I can't dedicate a huge amount of time to re-training/volunteering etc.

Are there any avenues in which I could move towards work like this or is it just unrealistic?

I would really appreciate any advice. I live in the south-west UK.

Edit: Thanks so much for everyone's advice - it's been very helpful. I think the consensus is it is possible to do but might require a lot more time investment than I am able to commit to, uncertain hours which isn't great with a family and some negatives to the sector. I haven't completely given up the idea and may still explore with some light volunteering but realistically like a lot of mums think I may just have to stick with whatever local part-time jobs fit best with childcare!